The Long Trek Homeward
by Clzh and Clzh-x
Summary: Fifteen years ago, Riley left home to leave his mark in the world. Now, an impromptu spell of disillusionment leads him and his friends all the way to Kanto, where he must confront his problem. But it won't be easy, what with a broken home to return to.
1. To Face the Music

The cobalt-colored creature ran forward, its lithe form easily slipping beneath its opponent's awkward mass. Without pausing, the small beast leapt into the air, spinning around so it faced the creature. Its palms clasped together, and then aimed at the massive serpentine creature. An azure sphere of energy crackled to life in the space just before them, and then flew forward with the force of a small explosion, a ripple of similarly colored energy pulsating out from the orb and illuminating the surrounding region. The sphere crashed into the monstrous snake's head, sending it flying and crashing into a nearby wall. It didn't move…

…And all hell broke loose.

"AND HE DOES IT AGAIN, FOLKS!!" roared the announcer. "RILEY OF IRON MOUNTAIN— _ONCE AGAIN_— **DOMINATES ALL COMERS**!!"

Riley ignored the colossal wall of noise that pressed in on him from all sides as his Pokémon, Lucario, returned to his side. Continuing to disregard the colossal wall of sound that pressed in on him, he pulled out a tiny di-colored ball, so tiny that it was no bigger than a grape. He pressed the button on the front, and instantly it grew to the size of a softball. He walked toward the threshold of the stadium he had passed through not ten minutes ago, and tossed the ball over his shoulder.

Lucario froze, and began to emanate a soft red glow. The light grew stronger and stronger until it was merely light assuming Lucario's form. It then dispersed into a single ray, which shot towards the ball, which opened its maw to receive it. As it clamped shut, the Pokéball hung in midair for a moment, and then returned to its owner. Without even turning around to look, Riley snatched it out of the air, minimizing it, and shoved it in his pocket.

He paused briefly to make sure that the Steelix that Lucario had just trounced made it back all right. There was a flash of red… and then the enormous doors slammed shut, and he was left staring at the intricate pattern of a complex battle that had been carved into them; an image he'd seen so many times that it had lost the magic of inspiration that t gave to all others who passed through. He turned away, and continued walking.

* * *

"That was an excellent battle, Riley," Cheryl congratulated the navy-clad trainer.

"No. It was another kid's dreams crushed. In no way is that 'excellent'," he sighed, pulling the brim of his stylized fedora over his eyes as he sat down in a huff, an instant contrast to the smooth, engaging Prince Charming that left the battle field.

"Get over it, man," Buck laughed, his flaming hair bound in a thick, gravity-defying ponytail. "This isn't the first time you've trashed a wimp like him."

Riley eyed the teenager. "Maybe so. But you should know better than to call him a wimp. If he made it this far, I can easily see him making it to the championship round. It was bad luck that made him face me so early on. I have no doubt that one of two things will happen. Either he will: 'A)' be spurred on to his ultimate potential by the promise of such amazing strength that any trainer can achieve, or 'B)' he'll instantly be thrown into the pits of self-despair, having no confidence in anything, let alone battles."

Buck winced, his mood put out by the uncomfortable truth. Marley decided to nip this problem in the bud, as she had seen the overall effects of its results unchecked on a prior occasion.

"Look. I propose we do something other than sit around and wait for trainers to come and challenge us. As gratifying as the whole thing is, we _do_ have personal lives to attend to. With Lukas back at work for Professor Rowan, we have nothing to do, except sit here. And I do NOT plan on sitting on my backside for some upstart trainer to come running up, only to have his ego resized."

"So… what do you suggest?" Cheryl asked curiously, examining the long braid of her jade hair.

"Vacation!" squealed Mira ecstatically. "We could go travel around someplace we've never been! Like Hoenn, or Johto! Or even Kanto! I've never been there!"

"Child," Marley said softly, feigning insult, while hiding the faint smile that she was sporting at her friend's antics. Mira stuck out her tongue.

"Ooh… Kanto sounds like _fun_," Buck laughed. "It's a lot warmer than Sinnoh, for sure."

Cheryl nodded, smiling pleasantly. A warmer climate would be refreshing.

Riley faked indifference. In all honesty, he didn't really feel the fuzzy feelings for the country that his friends were all intent on visiting. Especially since the Incident, fifteen years ago.

"Fine," the elder man conceded, waving an arm nonchalantly. "But only if we stay mainstream."

"Mainstream?" Mira asked curiously. "What's mainstream?"

"I mean we stay in the big cities. Vermillion, Fuchsia, Cerulean."

"How about Viridian?" Mira asked, pointing to a small town in the almost extreme lower left of the map. Riley felt his stomach begin to slide the long way to the tips of his feet.

"What's in Viridian?"

"Oh, nothing. It's the small town to the south that I want to see."

Riley felt his stomach sink even lower.

"Which one?"

"Pallet Town! I want to meet Professor Oak!"

Instantly, Riley was thinking. His eyes narrowed –not malignantly– as his brain started calculating every possible outcome. It wasn't long before he realized­­­­­ that he had no chance of diverting their attention without divulging certain personal information. And this was most certainly information he did not want to deal with at the moment.

"Sure. Sounds like fun," he conceded with a shrug and a smile.

Needless to say, this consent was all it took to get the remainder of the group of five excited. Apparently, Cheryl had an old friend who lived their, and maybe they could visit? Riley, who was too tired to argue, nodded simply and left it at that.

And so that's how the stationmaster of the Pokétrans International Railway came across the most mismatched group of colors shades and hues _ever_. As a teenaged boy whose attire screamed '**RED**' argued with a girl whose outfit just as loudly argued '**BLACK**', a girl wrapped in '**PINK**' and '**YELLOW**' was skipping around, a woman in '**GREEN**' was attempting to keep the peace, and a man –screaming '**BLUE**_**'**_-was attempting tohaggle with the ticket dispenser. Sadly, machines do not haggle.

"Stupid Automatic Ticket Dispenser," grumbled Riley, as the group filed into their compartment. How dare that inferior machine not give him a discount?!

Once inside, he set his own suitcase on the floor before helping Cheryl, Marley, and Mira with theirs. Then he pushed his own into the free space left over.

"Sorry, kid," he chuckled at Buck. "You're on your own."

"Favoritist," came to the scathing reply.

"No, a gentleman," Riley answered with a smile. He sat down in the corner of the room, and pulled his fedora down over his eyes, angling it so that while it looked like he was asleep, he indeed had a good view of the outside window. He would do this whenever he needed privacy and time to think. And he needed a lot of both.

When he left Kanto, fifteen years ago (or was it sixteen?), he'd been on the quest for power. Well, he found it, and was forced to live with the result. He'd left behind his freaking _wife_ to get this power. Not once did he realize, during his journey, the great treasure he'd left. Thank God he met Lukas. Watching that kid, exploring the inside of Iron Mountain, and talking to him had made something reawaken. Not in an instantaneous manner, but after a long period. He was such an idiot…

"I'm gonna go make a phone call," he announced as he stood up and strode through the room. Once in the hallway, he headed for the Club Car and asked to borrow the Wireless. Sitting down in front of the machine, he dialed –very haltingly- the number of his old home. There was a pause, and then the Wireless displayed an image of a twirling globe. It zoomed in on the location of the destination, a clever simulation based off of real-time feed. However, Riley was not in the mood to enjoy the display. He did not like using telephones…

**RINGRINGRING!! RINGRINGRING!! PHONE CALL! PHONE CALL!**

…And that was why. He adjusted his fedora, his form of fidgeting in the same manner that all men who are about to undertake an unpleasant duty do.

**RINGRINGRING!! RINGRINGRING!! PHONE CALL! PHONE CALL!**

_Please_ pick up! Please…

**RINGRINGRING!! RINGRINGRING!! PHONE CALL! PHONE CALL!**

_PICK UP THE PHONE, DAMNIT!!_

The Voice-Only Key clicked on.

"Ketchum residence, Delia speaking."

Oh, boy… It was Do or Die now. And he didn't feel all that much like dieing.

"Hey," the man in blue started haltingly. "Um… it's me."

There was a long, uncomfortably pregnant pause. And then…

"…Riley?" She recognized his voice. Well, damn.

"Yeah, it's m…"

The Video Mode switched on before he could finish his sentence. In a blaze of pixels, he was staring at a woman he hadn't thought about in thirteen years. And she was every bit as gorgeous as he remembered. Time had done nothing to harm her… and then he felt the build up of wannabe-drool that was gathering in the corner of his mouth and swallowed with a self-conscious chuckle.

"Uh… hey," he attempted to restart a conversation. Oh, he was no good at this, and perhaps he'd just made things worse. After all, it had been fifteen years since… well, maybe she had found someone better.

"Hello, Riley," Delia nodded. The man winced, why didn't she just come out and start screaming at him? That would at least give him an estimate of where he stood (he figured he was already on the edge of Tartarus, maybe 80 over). He sighed in exasperation and fidgeted nervously. How on EARTH could that woman make him feel like this?! She'd made him do this when they were kids, and then teens, and she could still make him do it now!

And then he heard her giggle.

"I'd forgotten you used to do that!" she remembered with a smile. He grimaced embarrassedly, muttering a small "Yeah…"

"…How've you been?" she asked after another small pause.

"Fine, I suppose. I made the big time," he said with a small tremor in his voice.

"Well, that's… that's good!" the brown-haired woman congratulated him. He knew that she didn't think that one bit. And truthfully, neither did he.

"No, Delia. Its not."

"But that's… you always wanted to be a master, right?"

"Yes, but… so does every other kid who grows up in a backwater like Pallet." Delia didn't respond with words. Her smile did so amply.

"Look… I made a _big_ mistake. And –typical me- took fifteen years to realize it. I'm sorry that I…"

"Oh, put a sock in it, you thespian wannabe." Riley stared at her.

"Look, I'm putting my heart and soul into this, and you're telling me to…"

"That's because I want you to know that I'm okay with it."

Riley paused, the high-tech computer that was his brain devolving to a blender mixing concrete. "Say WHAT?!"

"I know why you did it, and I was behind you all the way. Even though I didn't _quite_ make it seem that way," she revealed.

"Yeah, well, its my problem. I guess after I made it… that I just _missed_ you too much. Oh, shoot! Sorry!" he grimaced. "There's nobody there with you, is there? I hope I didn't intrude! Or insult," he added on.

Delia sniggered cutely at his expression. "No, there's no competition that you have to worry about, Riley," she laughed. Riley sighed in relief, and then went, "Hey! Wait a sec'!" And thus upturned the apple cart. Delia burst into laughter at his expression.

A voice in the background could be heard, as a man in a white lab coat appeared. _"Delia, who _**are**_ you talking to?"_

Similarly, Riley felt a small twinge as a familiar presence entered his personal sphere. "Hey, Big Guy," Buck said with a grin. "Just making sure that you're okay."

"I'm _fine_, Buck. In fact," Riley smiled softly at Delia, who smiled back secretively. "In fact, I've never felt better."

"Hello, there!" came the voice of the elder man who had joined Delia at the computer screen. _"I'm…"_

"Professor Oak!" Buck shouted, a look of dawning recognition painted on his face. Riley sighed, and smacked the redhead.

"Keep it down, Buck! They can hear you _just fine_," he hissed. Buck scratched the back of his head, smiling embarrassedly.

"Sorry about him." Riley jabbed his thumb over at him.

Professor Oak was staring intently at the man in blue. "You know, Delia, I can't help but recognize your friend, here, even though I've never seen his face. Its gnawing at the back of my head, and…"

A loud voice rent the air. "MOM!! _I'M HOME!_"

"I'm on the phone!" Delia called back. "SORRY!!"

"That's it! He looks just like Ash!" Professor Oak realized.

Riley raised an eyebrow, as he felt a cold sweat develop on the nape of his neck.

"Uh, Delia…"

"Yes?"

"Two things. '1)' Who's Ash? And '2)'… did whoever that was just call you _**'MOM?!'**_"

Delia blushed a little. "Well, after you left…"

Riley gaped, open-mouthed. "But… but you said… said…!"

"Look, I **know** what I said. And I lied, alright? You wanted to go on your 'big journey', and I knew you wouldn't be happy until you did, so I…"

Professor Oak stared at her. "You mean _he is_…?!"

"I let you leave, okay!? I let you go on your big, fancy journey!" There were small tears in her eyes.

"Hey, hey… Delia… _Deli_," he cooed, and using her old nickname got her attention.

"Looks like you really were behind me," he said, smiling sadly. "Hey, guys? Can we have some private time?"

Buck and the Professor were _gone_.

"Well, thank you. Anyway, Delia… I won't ask why, but… You knew what you were doing, it seems…"

"Thanks," she replied awkwardly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She watched his face go pensive for a moment.

"Whatcha thinkin' about?" she asked cutely.

"Nothing: I'm rebooting," he chuckled. Delia laughed at the old inside joke. Another reference to Riley's computer-brain.

As he "rebooted", he used the time to process all this new information.

Delia was not mad at him (at least, not very). She was not in love with anyone else, even though it might have been easier on them both if she did. And he had a son.

A son… A SON?!

"Wait a second… I'm a father?!" he wondered aloud, slightly hysterical. "Fifteen years of not knowing that I'm a freaking _FATHER_?!!"

Delia nodded happily. "Reboot complete, then?"

Riley, didn't know whether to reassure her of his full mental restart, or to continue wondering about the son he'd never known. He compromised by going "Uguh…" and then fainting.

"Riley? Riley, dear!"

* * *

Clzh: Well, its our first actual Pokémon story in a few years.

X: We'll take care of the festering boil that some people call by its title of Water and Earth.

Goddra2: Considering you wrote it in maybe 2 hours, I'd say you'd best get a move on.

X: Oh, shut up.

Clzh: Okay, there are some notes about this story that should clear any mild fans' questions up.

-Riley, Cheryl, Buck, Marley, and Mira are all characters from the Diamond and Pearl series. They're your double battle partners.

-Riley is connected to Sir Aaron of the 8th Movie, the one with Lucario. They look exactly the same, and they wear essentially the same outfit, given the noticeable changes between Sir Aaron's and Riley's time and setting. Their primary partners (Lucario) are also the same.

-Riley's personality, in our opinion, is a fusion of Sir Aaron's and Sven's (from the Black Cat manga/anime) respective personalities.

-This story develops the link between Sir Aaron and Ash that was mentioned multiple times in the 8th movie.

-We do not own the Pokémon franchise, or anything mildly related to it. If we did, Ash and misty would've gotten a special in which they got married, and that would be that!

(X: Yeah!!)


	2. An Awkward Meeting

Riley looked nonchalantly out at the passing waves of long stalks of grass as he and his friends were passing along a small dirt road, worn by the feet of dozens of passersby on their road of life. He smiled softly as a small breeze whistled through the meadow surrounding them. It had been a long time since he was here last. A long time… but he could still remember every little detail about it. He dodged a small Rattata hole that he remembered tripping into once when he was a kid. (Hey, when Rattata choose to dig a burrow, very little can be done to make them leave) The cobalt-eyed trainer looked over to the southeast, and felt a little pang. There was the oaken tree… he was fond of those memories. That was where he'd first met Delia, and first kissed Delia, and carved their names into the bark, and proposed to her…

He turned back to view the rest of the first-ever route officially recognized by the Pokémon League. Since it was the first, it was appropriately (and rather unoriginally) named…

"Route 1?" Buck read off of the map Marley was holding. "_Route 1?!_"

The female teenager rolled her eyes at her friend's tirade. She sighed, and offered him the map. He took it confusedly.

"Uh… what do I do with this?"

She stared at him in the manner that only she could, and he shivered. She just had that kind of effect on him. "You whine… you guide." And that was all she would say on the matter.

With another _lovely _spat with Marley under his belt, Buck took the map… and immediately fell off one of the many ledges that everyone who has EVER passed along the route knows about. However, as Buck had never been here before, he toppled headfirst into the dirt.

Mira offered a giggling "Oops!" and jumped onto the redhead's back, drawing out a loud "OUCH!!" in response. Riley decided to help him out, by leaping down beside him, and aiding Cheryl and Marley to the lower level.

Buck groaned in agony, and staggered to his feet. His face was smudged unceremoniously with dirt and mud, and he roughly tried to remove it with the back of his arm, only to smear most of it. He growled again, and threw the map over at Riley, who deftly snatched it from the air.

"Come on, kid," Riley said apologetically. "We'll get you cleaned up once we hit Pallet."

As they continued to walk southward, Marley shot a sidelong glance at Buck. The poor kid was still trying to get the persistent dirt removed from his face. She sighed and walked over to him. "Reckless…" she murmured, chastising him, and wiped his face with a small black handkerchief she always kept with her. She never used the handkerchief to blow her nose; that would be stupid, and waste a perfectly good handkerchief. Sweat, grime, and tears, okay, but never snot.

Buck was silent the whole time, watching her. She managed to clean a good percentage of the muck off of his face, and he smiled thankfully at her. She nodded curtly, and neither of them looked at each other until after the quintet made it into the small village known as Pallet Town.

Unbeknownst to any of the group, Cheryl had been watching them out of the corner of her eye. She smiled, and then the trip came to a close.

"So, where do we go now?" asked Buck. Marley looked up, waiting for a response.

"Well, you guys wanted to meet Doctor Oak, right?" Riley asked. "His lab's in the southeast part of town."

Mira was off like a shot, giggling excitedly. Riley briefly wondered who had more energy, Mira, the Battle Tycoon Palmer, or his son Damion. He sighed. They were ALL handfuls.

"I'll get her…" Marley offered, tossing her Monster Ball in the air. (Monster Balls were the generic term; there were several categories of Monster Ball, such as Poke Ball, Ultra Ball, Luxury Ball, and so on) It unleashed a plume of sheer light.

When the glow faded, a colossal bestial creature stood proudly on four legs. A lustrous golden mane swathed its body, flowing regally down its neck. Traces of the same golden fur flew from its legs and a glossy tail swayed in the wind. The rest of its magnificent form was coated in a coarse crimson fur, striped with black. Its piercing eyes surveyed its trainer, awaiting instruction.

"Retrieve Mira…" Two words, but oh so effective. Arcanine was off, bounding in leaps that covered a decent hundred feet each. It flew over the preadolescent, and as the Regal creature landed, it veered gracefully, catching and scooping the girl onto its back, and returned to the group.

"Mira, you need to stay with the group, okay?" warned Riley. "You'll get yourself lost."

The young girl pouted, turning away in a huff. The rest of the trip went without much incident. The group checked in at a small inn at the western corner of town, so the boys could let their Pokemon (who had been carrying all but the lightest luggage) rest, and could finally take a rest for themselves after a good six hours of walking, which they had started before dawn. As the group rested, Riley entertained them with stories of his travels as a youth (there were some hearty laughs when he said he'd gotten lost and took _four _days to find Viridian).

An hour of sheer bliss passed. The company set up their feet and cleaned themselves off. Buck finally washed his face, Marley began to set up where whose luggage would go (they rented two rooms, and the girls automatically chose the better one), Cheryl attended to Mira as an older sister would have, and Riley went to take a walk.

Riley was a fairly solitary man. Since his "journey" started, he'd tried to gain as much power as possible. He put no other goal before this; he let nothing distract him from his path. But, he hadn't been expecting one little snag. Delia.

Delia was a bit of an enigma. She was normal enough, a nice person with a sweet temperament, but she'd caught his attention, somehow. When he met her, they were simply strangers. But, circumstances brought them together repeatedly, and one night he'd taken her to meet his folks, since they were such good friends. After that, he met hers, and the cycle would repeat. It wasn't long before his training had fallen by the wayside, and he devoted his time to her, instead.

They went out together, fell in love, and when he turned twenty-two, he asked her to marry him. He remembered that moment so vividly…

_A twenty-one-year-old Delia stared at Riley Ketchum. For the longest time she didn't speak. The young man hung his head, and had turned away with a mumbled apology, when she squealed and jumped him from behind. They rolled around in the grass until Riley managed to bring the tumult to a stop._

"_Of course I'll marry you," she had said._

Riley smiled reminiscently. Then his smile turned sour, as he remembered betraying her and leaving her. He was such an idio— _huh?!_

The navy-clad man looked up at the two story building in front of him. Why did he… oh. He sighed, and chuckled a little. He took off his hat, and stared at the warmly lit house before him. With the exception of sixteen years of new wear and tear, his old home had remained physically unchanged. Warm laughter emanated from the inside, inviting him. Riley suddenly looked behind him, and then slowly, reluctantly, he walked forward, and ascended the stairs. His hand reached out, hesitated, and then he knocked twice, sharply.

He quickly returned his hat to his head as the doorknob shook, and the door opened. Riley beheld a teenager, fairly tall for a sixteen-year-old, he thought randomly.

"May I help you?" asked the teenager. He had dark brown –almost black- hair that reached down the sides of his face, hung over a red headband. He wore a green shirt and brown shorts, and carried a sketchpad under his arm. This was his son?

"Is this the Ketchum residence?" he asked tentatively, slightly hoping that it was, slightly hoping that it wasn't. He noticed that the noise inside the house had died down.

"It is indeed, sir," the tan-skinned teen answered jovially.

Riley nodded slowly, and then looked somberly at the boy before him.

"I don't suppose Delia's told you a whole lot about me, has she?"

"Um… I highly doubt she has, sir."

Inside the house, Delia recognized who the voice at the door belonged too. She stared down the hallway.

"Well, I guess someone should tell you about me, its only right that somebody should… Not that you'll be too fond of the news."

A bright color was coming to Delia's face, and she bit down on a napkin to keep from making any noise.

"Uh… sir?"

Riley looked at the teenager, and then down at his shoes. "The only reason you have no father right now, is that you haven't had one for sixteen years. I'm him."

Tracey Sketchitt jumped back a step. "_**You're **_**not my dad**__"

Riley looked up suddenly. "You… you're _not_ Ash Ketchum?!"

Inside the house, Delia burst into laughter.


	3. Past and Future

Riley stood on the porch of the Ketchum residence. He very much wished to be somewhere else. Somewhere very far away…

"Would you like to come in, Riley?" Delia asked.

...But, he had planned to follow this through the whole way.

"Thank you, Delia." As he stepped inside the dwelling, he was immediately beset by the smell of her cooking. He inhaled deeply and smiled. "Pork roast?"

The brunette woman paused and blinked at him. "Yes, how did you know…?"

"I've always been a fan of your cooking."

She smiled sweetly at him in response, and led him further into the house. He looked briefly around the room, taking in the faces. In the corner, the elderly, yet spry Doctor Oak was smiling as he chatted with a younger girl with long dark hair that she had arranged into a complicated coif with three ponytails. Tracey had retreated as far away from him as good manners would allow, and was now murmuring to a taller teenager with heavily tanned skin and eyes that seemed to be closed. In a different section of the room, a teenaged girl and boy were talking amiably to one another. The girl had soft, sunset hair that she had arranged into a slightly drooping ponytail that stuck out from the side, complemented nicely by pretty teal eyes. The boy had black, scruffy hair that– like his own– defied every law of physics known to man. He sported twin dark lightning-bolt-shaped birthmarks, one on each cheek. He looked disturbingly like… no way.

"Everyone?" Delia called into the living room. "There's someone very special I'd like you to meet."

Everyone looked over at the announcement, and two of the boys suddenly leapt up, pointed, and shouted, "Sir Aaron?!"

Delia blinked, and began to say "No", when Riley cracked a grin and answered for her. "No, you're both off by a few thousand years. Pretty close, though," he finished with a grin.

"This is Riley," Delia explained, recovering from the moment. "He's my husband, and Ash's father."

There was a long, pregnant, uncomfortable silence. "This guy is… _my_ _dad_?" The younger teen with the bolt-marks spoke softly. Riley nodded uneasily. He paused… and looked the man up and down. Riley subconsciously gulped. Well, he had submitted to this, and he was going to follow through, dang it!

The boy, Ash, apparently, blinked again, and looked at the elder man, as everyone in the room focused their attention on them. Delia had begun to think that she should've thought this through a bit more.

"Where _exactly_ have you been during the past 16 years?" Ash asked, emotionless.

"Abroad. I did a lot of traveling over the years."

"And… do you have some idea of how you're going to repay your… time abroad?"

Riley blinked confusedly. Repay?

"_Ash!_" his mother hissed, a blush staining her cheeks.

"He's right, Delia," Riley cut her short. "You were thinking along the same lines, if not necessarily exactly that." He turned to Ash. "What did you have in mind?"

The teenager grinned suddenly as he plucked a sphere from his belt. The Pikachu, which up until this point had sat quietly in the corner, leapt onto his shoulder, its hackles raised and sparks flying from its cheeks. "Pika!!" it agreed, challenging the elder trainer.

Delia looked tentatively at her "long lost" husband. What would he do…? Never mind. She smiled, admiring with a new understanding of the phrase "like father, like son". Riley had his own Monster Ball in his hand. There must be some surprise behind it, she figured, knowing her husband.

"I challenge you to a battle. Let's hope that you gained something over those 16 years, 'cause if you wasted your time, we'll find out here and now."

The redhead in the corner ­–who, to her credit, had been silent for a while– exploded at the boy. "A _battle?! He's been gone for _16 years_, and to make up for it, you want a BATTLE?!_"

Ash stared at Misty for a moment, smiling. "Yes." She looked back at him for a second, her expression softening.

"If you're sure… but you had better win, dangit!"

In the corner, the eldest boy, whose name Riley would later learn to be Brock, whistled softly. Both Ash and the girl – Misty– threw sharp looks at him before returning their gazes to Riley.

Riley chuckled. "Okay, this is your… home turf. You decide where we battle."

"We can use the field around my lab," the Professor volunteered. He _really_ wanted to see how Ash's father battled. _That _would be a treat, considering Ash's prodigious skill. Was it entirely from Delia's side, or did Riley have a say in it?

Both dark-haired men nodded. As the group headed out the door, Riley noted that Misty still had a reserved look on your face. He turned to his… son. He really needed to get over the novelty of that line.

"Are you _sure_ your girlfriend is okay with this?"

A dead, stale silence hung over the group. Riley froze, then looked around, trying to see what damage he'd done. Ash and Misty had both replaced their skin pigment with that of overripe cherries. The younger girl –Dawn, from Sinnoh (he had remembered seeing her around once, somewhere near Canalave Cape, but had never approached her, considering that would A be very rude, and B freak her out. Besides, he'd had no interest at the time, considering he was chasing after Mira, who'd stolen his cell phone, wanting to play tag)– was looking smugly at Ash, and Brock and Tracey were doing their best to keep from bursting out into laughter. Doctor Oak simply rolled his eyes with a grin. Delia smilingly whispered the situation into Riley's ear (he'd already mostly figured it out), and he blinked.

"We're not—!!" Ash and Misty, suddenly coming back to life, screamed, and then paused and looked at each other, and then away, entirely simultaneously. Riley chuckled an apology, and the group resumed.

They were interrupted by Riley's cell going off. Eyes widening, he snatched it from his inner coat pocket, and flipped it into the receiver position. He had a _very good_ idea that he was about to get some _very bad_ news. "Hello?" he asked, almost tentatively.

"_RILEY!!_**"**screamed a voice from the other of the connection. Riley winced. "Hello, Mira. How are you?" he asked politely.

"_WHERE ARE YOU?!"_ screamed the voice again. The group paused to watch the transaction, Delia with a mild curiosity, Tracey and Misty with some small satisfaction.

"I'm… visiting some friends and family right now, Mira." Riley didn't notice that Delia had assumed a strange expression. The good doctor did, however.

"_I'm hungry,"_ the voice quieted down, so the others (much to Riley's relief) couldn't hear.

"I know. Look, I'm almost done, and when I finish, I'll get you some lunch, okay?"

"_But I want food now!"_

"Look, I'm going to be at the Oak Research Lab, out in one of the nearby fields. If you want, you can come, and then I'll treat you to lunch, okay?"

"_You'd better!"_ Riley sighed, and when the line on the other end died, he snapped his phone shut, and slipped it back into his inner coat pocket. He turned around to apologize for the interruption, when he saw his wife's expression.

"Is everything alright, Delia?"

"Oh, things are _just_ _peachy._ Who was that, by the way?"

Riley (who could be as oblivious as his son, sometimes) didn't notice that her voice had a silent, dangerous edge to it. "Oh, that was Mira, a girl I'm traveling with. Really sweet and cute, just don't get her angry."

Delia raised an eyebrow. Ash winced; he hadn't seen the Eyebrow of Doom in a long time. Riley didn't stand a chance.

"And how many _other_ women did you bring, pray tell?"

"Oh, there're three, total: Cheryl, Mira, and Marley." Something clicked in the grown man's head as he looked back at his wife. He blinked and grinned. "Delia, Mira's about…" he paused and held his hand in a flat line somewhere about his midriff, "Yea high."

"Say what?" Delia deadpanned. "Mira's a… _child_?"

"She's ten. And Marley and Cheryl are fifteen and seventeen, respectively," Riley said as he struggled to keep a straight face. Delia looked at him, her mouth hanging open slightly.

"They're… just _kids?_" Or maybe not so slightly.

"Yup." Delia blushed fiercely at her overly juvenile jealousy. Riley smiled, and gave her shoulder a small squeeze with his right hand. "I wouldn't do that to you, Deli. I'm may be a bit pigheaded– but not that much."

The brunette woman sighed happily at his reassurance, and it wasn't until Misty's fake cough that they realized that they had been very close to embarrassing both themselves their company. Riley mentally smacked himself. _Too fast! _He'd been this close to making another big time mistake! He needed to calm down, and think this through. Moving too fast had a way of biting him in the hindquarters... like a rabid Sharpedo. He coughed self-consciously, and he did his best to keep a respectable distance.

Delia understood what he was doing, and she did her best to respect his wishes, although after sixteen years, it was very hard. As they all walked, she snuck her hand into his, and clasped it tightly. In response, he relaxed a little. But only a little.

When they arrived at the field, Riley briefly took it in. He remembered this place, well, back before it was Oak's. It was pretty much a small, grassy plain with a low hill on the far end. Nothing special, except for the small but deep pit filled with… Pokemon pre-fertilizer. He didn't quite remember where it was, though.

"Okay, so, where do you want to begin?" Riley asked. Ash blinked and shrugged, pointing vaguely to the middle of the field. The yellow rat on his shoulder grinned suddenly, and leapt to the solid earthen ground. It called out a few times, and suddenly the field was alive, as dozens of creatures surrounded the fringe. Riley nodded at the impressive assortment.

Multicolored birds rent the air with their caws and shrieks, each trying to get a good look at this newcomer. Other species also appeared at the edge, large reptilian creatures, and a variety of other mammals, ranging from the monochrome behemoth, Snorlax, to what appeared to be a frozen mass of rock with large blue eyes, Glalie.

"Nice," Riley acknowledged to his younger counterpart. "These all yours?"

"Most of 'em," Ash answered with a grin.

"So you caught… _thirty_ Tauros?"

"Long story."

"But oh, so funny," Misty quipped.

Ash glared at his female friend. "Tell me, who was it that caught the Gyarados and ran away screaming?"

"You ran, too!"

"Oh, yeah?!"

"Yeah!"

Riley shot a sidelong glance at his wife, who sighed. Deciding to end this, Riley said, "You know something? For a couple of 'just friends', you bicker like an old married couple."

Once again, there was the awkwardness, once again the blushing, once again the absolute denial, and once again, all simultaneously. Riley rolled his eyes. "You want to battle, or what?"

"You bet!" Ash exclaimed, very glad for the excuse to distance himself from Misty. The redhead harrumphed, and joined the remainder of the group, sans Professor Oak, who was going to referee, at one of the unoccupied fringes of the field.

Riley looked across the open field at his son, who had a fierce, excited grin on his face. The former couldn't help smiling with anticipation himself; he was looking forward to this! The Monster Ball he had taken out earlier glinted brightly as the noontime sun glinted off it. He admired the Nest Ball, its alternating stripes of dark green and tanned yellow seeming to meld into a confused mass. He felt the anticipation of watching everyone else's expressions when he called forth the monster within.

"You ready?" Ash called from thirty yards away. Riley chuckled and shouted his answer.

"Alright!" Ash laughed. He pulled his cap down a bit, a habit he'd picked up sometime over the last five or so years. He crouched down a few inches, digging the toes of his sneakers into the ground. He grabbed one of the Poke Balls at his waist and threw it high into the air. It popped open, letting loose a bright light.

Riley grinned. He tugged the brim of his fedora over his eyes, a habit he'd formed as time passed. He planted his feet in the solid earth, bracing himself. He lifted his Nest Ball above his head, straightening his arm. The button on the front aimed at the ground. The orifice opened, unleashing an explosion of blinding light.

"I choose you, Ambipom!" Ash called to the sky.

"Emerge, Tyranitar!" Riley roared.

Now, when stories describe a scene, it often takes time to do so at the risk of losing the tone of the moment. At the sidelines, Delia smiled and Misty gawked; Ash and Riley had acted in perfect sync.

On Ash's side, the light churned into a small bulk that quickly assumed the form of a simian creature standing upright on its hind legs. It was coated in short plum fur that covered its entire body, except for its face, its stomach, and the tips of its tails. Twin ovular ears sprouted from the sides of its head, the inner parts a bright red. Atop its head, long, thick tufts of purple hair shot upwards to a good seven inches, the ultimate split end. Its face escaped from the mass of fur in a broad U-shape that gave it the comical appearance of a drama mask, accented by its wide eyes, the mark of its nose, an upturned chevron, and its amused smile. Its arms and legs were thin but supple, and had no form of digits at their tips, except for the concave toes at the end of its feet. Its tail began in a haphazard bush of fur, from which sprouted a pair of dexterous whip-like stems ending in hairless, bulbous tri-fingered "hands", with the digits each ending in a bright red tip. It cackled raucously, and assumed a mock-martial arts position. Then it staggered backwards.

By contrast, the light from Riley's Monster Ball assumed the shape of a massive saurian beast. Its concrete armor, colored a sickly green, radiated into thin, fearsome spikes and spines that trailed down its back. Fierce fangs gleamed in the sunlight. Its dense body armor, fused to its body by sheer pressure, had triangular segments removed from its sides, revealing small sections of ebony sinew that betrayed its fierce strength. Its upper shielding broke off from its lower, revealing a diamond-shaped abdomen, carved into indigo sections separated into indigo plates. A thick tail, complemented by spikes that shot out from the tip, swayed heavily in the wind. Its pupils dilated upon seeing its opponent, and it unleashed a dark howl that seemed to move the very earth. A mighty wind drew forth, unleashing a torrential Sandstorm that coated the field, but which was harmless to the spectators.

Ash winced. Ah, crap.

Misty winced. That— that _thing_ was tough.

Brock winced. He knew that they were in for a spectacular– and most likely gory­– battle.

Dawn winced. She didn't want to see poor Ambipom ripped to shreds and mincemeat, whatever mincemeat was.

Tracey winced. Well, there went the picturesque land value.

Professor Oak winced. Well, there went the Laboratory.

Delia winced. Why did _both_ of her boys have to be such showoffs?

"This is going to be a one-on-one battle! It ends when either one is unable to continue.

Ash shook his head, clearing his thoughts. "Okay, Ambipom! Agility!"

The medium-sized monkey nodded, and with a hoot, charged forward, a purple blur. No WAY was that oversized lizard going to… uh oh.

Ambipom leapt over the brightly glowing Iron Tail attack that had just been aimed at its head. That… would've hurt.

Unyielding, the massive attack collided with the ground, tearing a chunk of the dirt free, and flinging it out of sight. Ambipom watched it disappear, and then decided that _maybe, just maybe_ fighting big ol' Tyranitar head to head wasn't such a hot idea. Ash concurred. "Ambipom! Scoot back! Get outta there!!"

Riley however, had entered into this battle with the ferver and passion that he did with all battles. He was NOT one to take it easy. "Stone Edge." his command echoed into the blur of the Sandstorm.

Dawn strained her eyes as tortured squeals rent the air. The storm was too thick! She couldn't see! Misty bit her lip. What was going _on _in there?! Delia was worried. Riley was strong. Was he too strong? Worried calls and cries came from the outer border of the area.

"Enough!" Riley's voice tore through the air. The Sandstorm immediately disappeared. A ferocious Tyranitar loomed over a beaten and bruised Ambipom.

Oak stared. That match had lasted… _only forty seconds?!_

Ash looked up at the trainer, speechless.

"I thought you said you'd wait for us, Riley," came a voice from the hill on the far side of the area.

"Not right now, Buck," Riley ordered curtly. He blinked a few times as he walked away from the field. "Come, Tyranitar."

As the beast followed him away, Misty noticed something strange about the man's complexion. Was he… crying?


End file.
